Was George W. Bush just as out of line with his “weapons of mass destruction” as Senator McCarthy was with accusing people of being communists? I think Goodnight and Good Luck was trying to ask that question. In 2005, we didn’t actually know for sure whether or not any of the countries we were accusing of having these weapons actually had them. The same thing happened in 2005. McCarthy found an enemy that everyone could hate and created this paranoid mindset that most Americans could relate to. The enemy in the 50’s was the Soviet Union, and the enemy that was created shortly after 9/11 was Iraq.
George Clooney must have very intentionally released this movie two years after our invasion of Iraq. This point could probably be defended, but the timing of the movie makes it seem as though he wanted to make a point that Bush was being as crazy as McCarthy by using this phrase. The entire movie is about these journalists trying to prove how McCarthy’s fear tactic is unjust, and I think Clooney was trying to hint that Bush’s was as well.
Very persuasive picture. Possibly Clooney was doing more than hinting that W was a bit of a fear monger.
ReplyDelete